By Ayo Akinfe
(1) Over the last few days, Europe and the US have stepped up the return of looted Abacha funds to Nigeria to help with the Covid-19 crisis. The British island of Jersey just returned $311m, with the UK and France promising to return another $319m in due course
(2) Last week, African leaders met and asked that all of the continent’s debts be wiped off to enable her recover from the debilitating effects of this pandemic. Bless Paul Kagame for spearheading that call. He is a true African patriot who has always meant well for our continent
(3) At the moment, what we have are the IMF and World Bank handing out loans, some creditors offering temporary debt relief, looted funds being returned and China suspending repayments for now. All these measures are just Band Aid solutions and wholly inadequate because in five years time, we will be have a heavily indebted continent that will be unable to repay all these loans
(4) More importantly, Africa as a continent remains locked in a poverty trap as all she does is export primary raw materials for cheap and then use the proceeds to import finished goods at 500% mark-up. This economic model is simply not sustainable. Come the next pandemic, the house of straw will be blown over by the storm once more
(5) In America, it has been estimated that the value of reparations for slavery could be as much as $17trn. If we use this as a template, a $17trn industrialisation plan will get Africa off her knees and make the continent a genuine player in the global economy rather than just a source of raw materials
(6) At the moment, Africa only accounts for 2.4% of world trade despite accounting for about 18% of the global population. By 2050, it is estimated that Africa will account for about 50% of the world’s population, so unless drastic action is taken fast, a time bomb 10 times for toxic than coronavirus is set to explode
(7) I know many of our African leaders are just crooks and criminals so handing them $17trn will be suicidal. What I want to see is that $17trn invested in manufacturing, port facilities, power plants, food processing, railway networks, medical equipment making, shipyards, aviation factories, etc
(8) What we need is for the continent’s presidents to meet and put together an ambitious African Coronavirus Recovery Plan. This should call for the investment of $17trn over the next five years. A skills, capital and technology transfer programme is what is needed to end Africa’s status as an eternal buyer and global dumping ground
(9) For too long, Africa has been the footmat of the rest of the world and we now have a chance in a lifetime to change this. Africa’s total GDP is only $2.5trn compared with $2.7trn in France, $2.8trn in the UK and $2.94trn in India. It is totally impossible to sustain 55 nations on $2.5trn, so as first step, I believe we have to halve the number of Africa’s nation states through a series of mergers and amalgamations
(10) Once this coronavirus pandemic passes, I doubt if the rest of the world will have any time for Africa as they will be preoccupied with building their own economies. This is a chance in a lifetime and we must grab it with both hands
